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ALONG a rutted track in a high mountain reserve, just outside central Italy’s Parco Nazionale D’Abruzzo, sheep farmer Nunzio Marcelli takes us out late one afternoon on a journey – a journey to an upland pasture far from our home farm in hopes of catching up to 600 grazing sheep in the last hours of the day.

Looking out towards a distant slope framed by stands of beachwood and Austrian pine, we see tiny white shapes approaching – columns of mixed Spanish Merino and Italian Sopravvissana sheep slowly grinding their way down a cliff-like traverse.

Guided by gentle mastiff sheepdogs, the pack makes its way up a steep gully and across the broad, austere valley leading towards holding pens alongside a solitary shepherd’s hut.

This sort of life spent completely in the open air, migrating with herds along harsh mountainous terrain, has shaped the rugged-yet-friendly Abruzzo character – and once marked the lives of nearby sheep-rearing villages which are now a fraction of what they once were.

As the pen doors slams shut, I stand in awe – of the Macedonian shepherd’s gritty toughness and of Marcelli, a deeply serious, strong-willed man who insists on continuing this traditional practice despite great economic hardship.

After thanking the shepherd, we jump back into our car and drive to Anversa degli Abruzzi – a medieval village overlooking the Sagittario Valley – where Marcelli and his girlfriend run an organic sheep farm and “agriturismo,” or farmhouse inn.

The agriturismo comes in many shapes and sizes, but they are usually less pricey than hotels, and in Italy, they’re well advertised by a government seeking to support small farms.

At Marcelli’s agriturismo, La Porta dei Parchi, you can dine with the family, learn about raw milk cheese production or merely sit back and enjoy the peaceful allure of a spectacular mountain landscape.

One day, I hike to a World Wildlife Fund reserve in the valley below Anversa degli Abruzzi, and on the way back up, stop off at the town’s main piazza for lunch.

Further east, cosmopolitan Sulmona has smart shopping arcades and an exuberant late-night wine-bar scene, but for a truly transformative outing, the ancient sheep-herding community of Scanno is a must.

(Made famous by the photographs of Henry Cartier Brasson, Scanno is perhaps Abruzzo’s most renowned medieval village – a picturesque warren of narrow streets, archways and craftsmen’s workshops).

Still, I’m here mostly to enjoy long, slow meals in intimate surroundings with people who know and care about the land. After our outing to the high mountains, we arrive back in time for smoked meat served with apricot preserves and pecorino – a delicately pungent sheep’s milk cheese with hints of the wild fennel and mint found here in the Abruzzo pastures.

Montepulciano wine is poured and as grilled lamb and home made pasta with fresh juniper-smoked ricotta is passed around the table.

It is hard to ascertain in this festive setting the true nature of misery and neglect suffered in this historically marginalized and badly run region, or to gather why even now the migration continues, to the coast and up north, despite burgeoning tourism and small industry sectors.

Marcelli’s agriturismo diversification and his successful restaurant and Internet-based “Adopt A Sheep” enterprise have kept his farm in business while other sheep farms nearby are closing.

“When I was growing up, parents used to warn their kids: ‘Study hard or we’ll send you to work with the shepherds,'” Marcelli tells me as a parable of the shifting societal perspective that’s seen shepherding fall from respected tradition to something shameful.

“People thought I was crazy when I opened,” says Marcelli of the town residents and mayor, who he says show little support despite an increase in tourism to the area.

But Marcelli is not one to stand still. He heads the regional farm cooperative and is waging a campaign to renovate houses in town for tourist stays.

Meanwhile, drought conditions persist. No milk is delivered to the farm in the five days I’m there. I never do get to see the cheesemaking process and in my walks into Anversa degli Abruzzi, I encounter welcoming townspeople but also sense a creeping desolation represented by roofless houses, now given over to nature.

I’ve spent many happy moments in Italy, but never have I felt myself drawn so close to the Italian way of life, its culture, history and people.

LOWDOWN

GO: The Abruzzo region lies 90 minutes east of Rome. The closest major city to Anversa degli Abruzzi is Pescara.

DISTANCE: 4,424 miles from New York

CASH: Euro (1 = $1.41)

ELEC: 220V

STAY: La Porta dei Parchi is located outside of the village of Anversa degli Abruzzi. It is open year-round. Doubles start at $60 (with meals),rates fluctuate depending on where you choose to stay. Discounts are available to those who enroll in the “Adopt A Sheep” program, whereby “parents” receive a year’s worth of wool and cheese (adottaunapecora.com).